# The Wolf and the Lion (2021 film)
**The Wolf and the Lion** (French: *Le loup et le lion*) is a 2021 family adventure film directed by Gilles de Maistre, in which a young pianist named Alma rescues a wolf pup and a lion cub in the Canadian wilderness and raises them together until authorities separate them.[1](https://cineuropa.org/film/411341/) It is a France-Canada co-production shot in English and French, running 99 minutes and rated PG.[2](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/wolf-and-lion)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Le loup et le lion*; director Gilles de Maistre, screenplay Prune de Maistre[1](https://cineuropa.org/film/411341/) |
| Release | France and Belgium 13 October 2021; United States 4 February 2022 (Blue Fox Entertainment)[1](https://cineuropa.org/film/411341/) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl186680065/) |
| Cast | Molly Kunz as Alma, Graham Greene as Joe, Charlie Carrick as Eli; music by Armand Amar[4](https://galateefilms.com/en/film/the-wolf-and-the-lion/) |
| Production method | Filmed in six blocks from May 2019 to July 2020, following the real wolf and lion as they grew up together, with animal trainer Andrew Simpson[5](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/secrets-tournage/) |
| Box office | $19,510,578 worldwide, of which $2,072,173 (10.6%) was domestic (United States)[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl186680065/) |
| French admissions | 1,164,066 tickets sold in France[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/box-office/) |
| Reception | 30% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (27 reviews) against a 90% verified audience score; Metascore 36[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolf_and_the_lion) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion/critic-reviews/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
After her grandfather's death, Alma, a 20-year-old pianist, returns to her childhood home, an island in the Canadian forest. There she rescues two cubs, a wolf and a lion, and the animals grow up together as brothers. Their life collapses when a forest ranger discovers the animals and takes them away; the lion is sent to a traveling circus and the wolf to a reserve, and the two cubs journey across Canada to be reunited with each other and with Alma.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolf_and_the_lion) • [9](https://nowplayer.now.com/ondemand/detail?id=202202271614475&type=product) The Australian Classification Board describes the film's themes as including a plane crash, hunting and poaching in which an animal is implied to have been killed, references to animal mistreatment, and a scene in which a character angrily threatens a group with a rifle.[2](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/wolf-and-lion)
## Production
**Real animals, no CGI.** The idea arose during the making of de Maistre's earlier film *Mia and the White Lion* (2018), when the wolf specialist [Andrew Simpson](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-simpson), an animal coordinator who had worked on *Game of Thrones* and *The Revenant*, visited the set; together with the zoologist [Kevin Richardson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-richardson-zookeeper), de Maistre concluded that, as far as they knew, no film had ever paired a lion and a wolf on screen.[5](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/secrets-tournage/) • [10](https://cinemambiente.media/en/movies/le-loup-et-le-lion) The production chose Sacacomie Island, a nature reserve two hours northeast of Quebec, isolated enough to ensure the animals' safety, and filmed over 15 months as the wolf and lion grew from their earliest moments to youth, in six shooting blocks between May 2019 and July 2020.[5](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/secrets-tournage/) • [10](https://cinemambiente.media/en/movies/le-loup-et-le-lion) De Maistre said the bond between the animals had to be real rather than achieved with special effects.[10](https://cinemambiente.media/en/movies/le-loup-et-le-lion) The RogerEbert.com review confirms the footage shows a real-life wolf and a real-life lion, which the end credits describe as real-life best friends.[11](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wolf-and-the-lion-movie-review-2022)
Lead actress Molly Kunz auditioned in 2018 and trained with Simpson before her animal co-stars were born; she reported the production ran for about two years and that she played most of the piano music herself, with a professional brought in for the most difficult pieces.[12](https://hnmag.ca/interview/talent-on-tap-molly-kunz-gets-closer-to-nature-in-the-wolf-and-the-lion/)
## Release and box office
The film opened in France and Belgium on 13 October 2021, distributed by [StudioCanal](https://www.edgepedia.org/studiocanal), and later reached Spain (5 November 2021) and Germany (23 December 2021).[1](https://cineuropa.org/film/411341/) • [13](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/151076) In France it sold 1,164,066 admissions over its run, with its strongest week drawing 344,123 entries in late October 2021.[6](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/box-office/) Blue Fox Entertainment acquired United States rights in November 2021 and released the film on 4 February 2022 in 1,005 theaters, opening with $641,845 and finishing with $2,072,173 domestically, 10.6% of a worldwide total of $19,510,578.[14](https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/news/variety-studiocanals-the-wolf-and-the-lion-gets-u-s-distribution-deal-with-blue-fox-exclusive) • [3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl186680065/) The film later streamed on Netflix in the United Kingdom from 4 January to 4 July 2024 and is available on [Angel Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/angel-studios) and several ad-supported services in the United States.[15](https://uk.newonnetflix.info/info/81578151) • [16](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion)
## Reception
**Critics and audiences diverged sharply.** The film holds 30% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 27 reviews, with 8 fresh and 19 rotten, while 90% of more than 50 verified audience ratings were positive, at 4.4 out of 5.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolf_and_the_lion) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 36, generally unfavorable, based on five critic reviews.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion/critic-reviews/) Reviewers repeatedly praised the animal footage while criticizing the human drama: Nell Minow of RogerEbert.com wrote that the wolf and lion make a great team while the humans and the script do not, and Anne T. Donahue of *The Globe and Mail* called it a frustrating, heavy-handed film.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion/critic-reviews/) Peter Martin of DallasFilmNow.com took the opposite view, finding that heartfelt empathy for the plight of abused animals outweighed the flimsy plot and that Molly Kunz and [Graham Greene](https://www.edgepedia.org/graham-greene) made an appealing pair of heroes.[7](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolf_and_the_lion) Before release, the film won best children's film at the Zurich International Film Festival.[14](https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/news/variety-studiocanals-the-wolf-and-the-lion-gets-u-s-distribution-deal-with-blue-fox-exclusive)
## Context in de Maistre's animal films
The film continues the approach of *Mia and the White Lion*, which de Maistre made after the documentary *L'homme qui murmure à l'oreille des lions* about the zoologist Kevin Richardson; *Mia* drew about 6 million viewers worldwide and was the most successful French film internationally in 2019.[10](https://cinemambiente.media/en/movies/le-loup-et-le-lion) • [17](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/140/167/239500/presse/le-loup-et-le-lion-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf) Like *Mia*, *The Wolf and the Lion* was shot over an extended period so that the real growth of the animal stars could be part of the story, with pre-production beginning when the cubs were one month old so that they and the actors would be comfortable with each other.[11](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wolf-and-the-lion-movie-review-2022)
## References
1. [Le loup et le lion, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/film/411341/)
2. [The Wolf and the Lion, Australian Classification](https://www.classification.gov.au/titles/wolf-and-lion)
3. [The Wolf and the Lion, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl186680065/)
4. [The Wolf and the Lion, Galatée Films](https://galateefilms.com/en/film/the-wolf-and-the-lion/)
5. [Anecdotes du film Le Loup et le Lion, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/secrets-tournage/)
6. [Box Office du film Le Loup et le Lion, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-274585/box-office/)
7. [The Wolf and the Lion, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wolf_and_the_lion)
8. [The Wolf and the Lion critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion/critic-reviews/)
9. [The Wolf and the Lion, Now TV](https://nowplayer.now.com/ondemand/detail?id=202202271614475&type=product)
10. [Le Loup et le Lion, Cinemambiente Media](https://cinemambiente.media/en/movies/le-loup-et-le-lion)
11. [The Wolf and the Lion movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-wolf-and-the-lion-movie-review-2022)
12. [Talent on Tap: Molly Kunz, HN Magazine](https://hnmag.ca/interview/talent-on-tap-molly-kunz-gets-closer-to-nature-in-the-wolf-and-the-lion/)
13. [Le loup et le lion, CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification/151076)
14. [Studiocanal's 'The Wolf and the Lion' Gets U.S. Distribution Deal with Blue Fox, Variety via Blue Fox Entertainment](https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/news/variety-studiocanals-the-wolf-and-the-lion-gets-u-s-distribution-deal-with-blue-fox-exclusive)
15. [The Wolf and the Lion on Netflix UK, New On Netflix UK](https://uk.newonnetflix.info/info/81578151)
16. [Le loup et le lion streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-wolf-and-the-lion)
17. [Le loup et le lion press kit, Unifrance](https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/140/167/239500/presse/le-loup-et-le-lion-dossier-de-presse-francais.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2020 to 2022*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license